Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon!

Photon Shockwave is here, and yet we somehow haven’t looked at the monster you see on the front of each and every pack! It’s time to give Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon its day in the sun!

Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon is a LIGHT Dragon-Type monster with 3000 ATK and 2500 DEF, just like the all-time classic Blue-Eyes White Dragon! Unlike Blue-Eyes however, Galaxy-Eyes has several effects which will devastate opponents who come up against it.

First off you can Special Summon Galaxy-Eyes by Tributing 2 monsters with 2000 or more ATK. If you’ve been reading our previous Photon Shockwave articles you’ll know that Alexandrite Dragon and Rescue Rabbit make this an easy task, and there are plenty more ways to get the right monsters on the field as well.

Decks that play Galaxy-Eyes will want to use Gorz the Emissary of Darkness as it’s a solid defensive option against many of the current top Decks. If you’ve got an empty field and take an attack from a strong enough monster, you can Summon Gorz and an Emissary of Darkness Token with ATK equal to the damage you just took, giving you 2 high ATK monsters to use for Galaxy-Eyes!

Dragon Decks will be able to Summon this card with incredible ease. In addition to running several high ATK Dragon-Type monsters (for you to Tribute) like Prime Material Dragon and Light and Darkness Dragon, these Decks have access to the mighty Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon, which can Special Summon Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon for free from either the hand or Graveyard! There’s also Dragonic Tactics from Legendary Collection 2: The Duel Academy Years, which can Special Summon Galaxy-Eyes directly from the Deck!

And speaking of Summoning Galaxy-Eyes directly from the Deck, word is that there’s going to be a shadowy new way to do it when Order of Chaos comes out this winter!

An invincible monster?

With Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon on the field you’ve got a powerful ally in battle, and its effects make it near impossible for stronger monsters to take it down! Whenever Galaxy-Eyes battles, you can banish it and the monster it’s battling, and both monsters return to the field at the end of the Battle Phase. This alone means that any monster that could take it down will never get a chance to, as the monsters are banished before reaching the Damage Step!

Galaxy-Eyes’ effect is also handy when you want to get around a monster with a tricky Battle Phase effect of its own. D.D. Warrior Lady and Neo-Spacian Grand Mole are 2 useful cards we often see in Anti-Monster Decks, as they can get rid of stronger monsters by themselves. Galaxy-Eyes can take on either of these and banish them before their effects activate, leaving your other monsters free to battle without fear! It’s also handy if you want to get a card like Spirit Reaper, (which can’t be destroyed in battle) out of the way so that your other monsters can attack directly.

Galaxy-Eyes’ final effect happens when it battles an Xyz Monster. If you banish an Xyz Monster with its effect, Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon will gain 500 ATK for every Xyz Material that monster had attached to it when the monsters return to the field. Also, since Xyz Materials detach from the Xyz Monster when it’s banished, your opponent won’t be able to use their effects when it returns! It’s an absolute beating to an opponent relying on Gachi Gachi Gantetsu or Wind-Up Zenmaines to slow down your strategy.

One more cool thing to point out is that Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon’s effect is a Quick Effect, so if you declare an attack on a monster and your opponent activates a card like Mirror Force or Dimensional Prison, you can still banish both monsters and dodge the Trap Card’s effect! This also comes into play when you’re taking on Number 39: Utopia. If your opponent detaches a material to try and negate your attack, you can Chain Galaxy-Eyes’ effect to banish both monsters anyway!

Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon is a mighty card, and you can get it in either Photon Shockwave or its own Collectible Tin!